People Places Things (2015)

Comics are cool and hip, right? Well, maybe not that superhero stuff necessarily, but those "literary" graphic novels that tend to get featured in the New York Times and such. Those and the people who make them are worth writing an indie romantic drama/comedy around, certainly.

I am kidding here, partially -- but writer/director James C. Strouse's generically-titled People Places Things seems to take that conceit. While I give Strouse credit for some of his details, much of the "graphic novelist" elements seem like a cute motif in the larger story. While they add some unique touches, they do little to elevate the movie much beyond where you'd expect it to be.

The extended title sequence features blue-pencil comic art illustrating how graphic novelist Will Henry (Jemaine Clement, better known as half of Flight of the Conchords) met his current partner and mother of their twins, Charlie (Stephanie Allynne). As openings go, it's intriguing but not necessarily insightful. Artist Gray Williams, who provided the art, illustrates these scenes in a typical indie comics way (think Adrian Tomine) -- clean and a bit cute. It does little to tell us anything about who Will and Charlie are, however.

We first meet them in the flesh at their twins' birthday party. Will catches Charlie cheating on him with "off-Broadway monologist" Gary (Michael Chernus). It's an abrupt introduction to these characters -- especially to Charlie -- and sets up the meandering tone the movie often has.

When the story picks up a year later, Will is in bad shape, drifting through weekends with his (admittedly adorable) twin daughters (played by sisters Gia and Aundrea Gadsby) and the class he teaches on cartooning at School of Visual Arts. When a student, Kat (the amazing Jessica Williams) sets him up with her mother, Diane (Regina Hall),Will begins to question the direction of his life is taking. Or something. I think that's what we're supposed to think.

While Will should be an oblivious manchild, Clement brings such sweetness, wit and charm to the role it's hard not to root for him. His initial scenes with Diane have a playful antagonism that show someone who's smart but cautious with who he lets in. Even though the movie does have a few non-surprising scenes, like where Will fails to get his daughters to school on time -- his gentle but deep love toward his girls is honest and heartfelt. Will is not without his faults but he's man who is trying to do the best he can for his daughters and himself.

And that's really the major flaw of the movie -- as appealing of a leading man as Clement makes (and no doubt, he's already a star, but he's wonderful in this), Will has no real journey. And the major issue is with the character of Charlie.

While some of Charlie's fears and complaints are understandable -- she gave up her own ambitions for Will's career and after becoming a mother -- her character is written in a shrill, unlikable way (and introducing her while she's cheating on the father of her daughters does her no favors). Allynne does what she can with the role, but Charlie feels unfortunately selfish and flightly because the movie requires her to be. I never really felt like I understood her motivations of what Will saw in her, other than they shared a history. (It doesn't help that Clement and Allynne have little chemistry.)

But let's get back to the comics stuff, which is what interested me in this movie in the first place.

While Will's career as a graphic novelist is somewhat integral to the plot, it also too much like window-dressing. Will could've been any sort of artist -- a writer, a musician, an actor. The "comics" aspect does come across way too much as a bid for hipness, especially when it comes to a somewhat forced conversation about the relevance of comics as American literature with Diane. I have fears that "graphic novelist" will quickly become the creative occupation of choice for protagonists of indie movies.

The movie does get some comic things right, though -- Will teaches as SVA and certainly, many comic artists do. I'm not particularly sure why we're supposed to look down on Will for living in Astoria (I know people who make comics who live there happily) and I kind of want to complain there aren't enough women in Will's class (although the bit about a male student sharing his comic about learning to masturbate felt pretty on-point, complete with Will's eye-rolling exhaustion about it).

The shining star in this movie is Kat (and if there's any justice in the world, Jessica Williams will be a huge star). She's a 19-year-old black woman who wants to make comics and hangs out (or works -- it's not entirely clear) in a poorly-disguised Bergen Street Comics. She's working on a comic with her life with her mother (and the men her mother dates) and from what we see of it, it's pretty awesome. Will recognizes it's awesome too, and he shares his work-in-progress with Kat. They have an intriguing, complicated relationship that feels built on mutual respect rather than romance, In fact, when Will misreads Kat's intentions initially, she shuts him down so fast. It's refreshing to a younger woman and an older man connect on a level that's not sexual at all.

I loved that the movie recognized that it's young women who are the future of comics, and choose to represent this with a woman of color. There was not nearly enough of Kat in this movie.

If you watch the trailer, you'll know what to expect with People Places Things. It's by no means a bad movie, but it's slight and "cute" is probably the strongest word you can come up with for it. It's definitely cute. It's definitely a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes. But sadly, the more interesting elements get lost in movie that decides to hit the most obvious beats that the appealing cast can't overcome. There is a good movie about these characters (especially about Will and Kat) but this movie just isn't it.

(People Places Things is in theaters and on Video On Demand starting Aug. 14.)

JAPAN CUTS 2014: Cross Generation Communications From .5MM, GREATFUL DEAD, TALE OF IYA Screenings

Tetsuichiro Tsuta, director of THE TALE OF IYA

Living up to its reputation, the leading festival of films from Japan Japan Cuts brought a diverse offering of topics and points of view in its presentations of films from 2013 and 2014 to New York City audiences at this summer's event. This year’s slate was enriched by a number of strong independent films offering critical looks at society with no easy answers but plenty of intriguing questions. Standouts include .MM from director Momoko Andou, who adapted the story from her debut novel, GREATFUL DEAD by Eiji Uchida, and THE TALE OF IYA by TETSUICHIRO TSUTA. These films represent the promise of three assured and innovative voices arising in the Japanese film industry.

On an interesting note all three of the directors worked with a cast featuring both young and aged actors in order to wave stories that look at the relationship between different generations of Japanese. At times it speaks of reverence (TALE OF IYA), of both lack of understanding and awestruck fascination (.5MM), and in the case of GREATFUL DEAD, there is allusion to a conflict that is ruthlessly adversarial. In each case, these relations are navigated in such a way that suggests a complex situation at work.

In the realm of filmmaking, however, it can be viewed as a triumph of collaboration, with brilliant performances across generations being invoked by each director.

Below are a few communications between the talent involved in these provocative films and the audience, either in person, via video, or by letter read prior to a screening.

Prior to the screening of .5MM Japan Cuts programmer Joel Neville Anderson read a letter from Sakura Andou (LOVE EXPOSURE, PENANCE) star of the film and sister of director Momoko Andou, to the audience. I was unable to stay for the Q & A via skype with director Momoko Andou after the film.

Director Eiji Uchida prepared a video introduction before the screening of his film Greatful Dead, in which he talks about the film’s shift from serious societal critique to genre hit, and the inspiration behind religious themes in the film.

Director Tetsuichiro Tsuta appeared at New York’s Japan Society in person to introduce his film and discuss it afterwards with Joel Neville Anderson. Below are photos followed by videos of the introduction and q & a.Apologies for the video’s abrupt beginning and end, which captures only a part of the Q & A. At the outset, Tsuta answers a question about his ambitions to make even longer films (IYA ran an impressive 3 hours) using traditional filming methods. Here he speaks on directing the physicality of his leads Rina Takeda, action film favorite and martial artist, and Min Tanaka, a long established actor whose repetoire includes traditional dance.

Me on twitter = @mondocurry

Misfire: The Rise and Fall of The Shooting Gallery (2013) DOC NYC 2013

There was something great about coming of age and becoming a movie nerd in the 90s. There was the rite of passage working for a movie retailer, and there was the thrill of the hunt at mom and pop video stores. More importantly, there was the indie boom of the 90s--when Sundance was for obscure gems rather than an early launchpad for prestige releases, when that slew of new films and filmmakers seemed adventurous and fresh, when "indie" (or "indy") still meant something as magical as a phrase like "college radio."

In Whitney Ransick's documentary Misfire: The Rise and Fall of The Shooting Gallery, it's as if the whole of the 90s is condensed into the 10-year history of the production company. We get the boom of indie film and the boom of the internet, and the twin stories of the decade careen out of control and crash--the tech bubble bursts and takes The Shooting Gallery with it while the indie bubble goes through an irreversible metamorphosis. Misfire is the sign of the times, and yet there's a common tension that recurs in all stories of artistic endeavor: the creative people vs. the money people.

Started in 1991 by a group of film students from SUNY Purchase, The Shooting Gallery is probably best known for three films: 1992's Laws of Gravity, 1996's Sling Blade, and 2000's You Can Count On Me. It was the premiere New York arm of 90s indie filmmaking. The primary mover on the creative side was Bob Gosse; the primary money mover was CEO Larry Meistrich. Ransick was also part of The Shooting Gallery when it began, though he'd leave the group after a few years.

Misfire goes through interviews and old footage of The Shooting Gallery, and we get to see the players speak then and now. Well, most everyone's there except for Meistrich and his friend/CFO Steve Carlis. It's a given why they declined to be interviewed for the film once you find out how The Shooting Gallery went kaput. I wouldn't want to talk about it either, though it's a shame we don't get to hear from them.

In some ways Meistrich is the de facto villain of Misfire. Rather than focus on filmmaking, he tried to turn The Shooting Gallery into some nebulous media conglomerate. It was the 90s, and "dot com" had a far more mystical allure than "indie" and "college radio," even though no one knew for sure what The Shooting Gallery's media wing was really up to.

As someone pointed out in the Q & A after the screening, Meistrich was a little different than some money men involved with production companies. He never tried to tamper with certain movies directly and allowed the filmmakers a lot of creative freedom. But to that, Meistrich greenlit some less-than-stellar films as attempted money grabs. Ultimately, it was his attempt at expansion that grounded numerous film projects that The Shooting Gallery could have gotten off the ground.

There's a genuine sense of nostalgia for the 90s in Misfire, which makes sense given that The Shooting Gallery is where and how Ransick, Gosse, and many others in the film got to where they are today. The incidental music in the doc reminded me of stuff I'd hear in a Starbucks back then--a bright and inoffensive acoustic pop rock. Hal Hartley gets noted and appreciated (as he deserves to be). Gosse was living with Parker Posey at the time (a fellow SUNY Purchase alum). While she isn't an interview subject in the film, she's on screen for a few moments, and Posey may be the Platonic form of the 90s indie It girl.

I couldn't help but sense that The Shooting Gallery was a kind of club house and a posse for its core group, even at the end of its life. It was a scrappy gang who did it and blew it and are now able to look back fondly at the decade. Maybe its that nostalgia that allowed me to find weird patterns and correspondences in the story of The Shooting Gallery and the decade as a whole; maybe personal stories can't help but reflect the over-arching story of the period in which they occurred. Misfire is like the high school year books of the 90s indie boom.

Don’t Let ‘The Happy Poet’ Remain Unseen

I’ll make my plea as straightforward as possible: if you are at all into indie film, and indie comedy in particular, really, really try to see this film. It’s currently playing at the Laemmle Santa Monica in the LA area, and I’m not sure what the release plans are beyond that, but if you need to start a Tugg campaign, bug your local theater owner, or catch The Happy Poet if and when it makes a VOD bow, please just do it. You’ll thank me later.

The reason I’m so effusive? Yes, I sincerely enjoyed Paul Gordon’s film, but I also feel that it has several things possibly going against it from a first-impressions standpoint that I’d like to combat. That and the fact that I noticed it was made back in 2010 and is only now getting a release, well, it makes me feel that The Happy Poet could easily vanish into the indie woodwork, which would be a true shame. So here, counter-intuitively under the banner of my championing the film, are the warning signs that you are to ignore at all costs…

• The title. It’s both generic and intentionally arty-sounding (I mean, poet?), which gives one pause. But try to get past that. Besides, the one scene where poetry is actually recited is priceless (that’s a testament to the comedic timing of Gordon, who also stars). 
• The topic. Namely, the vending of organic and “mostly vegetarian” food. Yet this is not a polemic about recommended dietary and planetary patterns of consumption. Hot dogs, in fact, play a key plot point. (And in terms of a story about dealing with an unpredictable public while doling out food, the film is far superior to last year’s Free Samples.)
  
• The Austin setting. The Happy Poet never tries to be trendy and hip. The setting is well-observed and used nicely, but you aren't pounded over the head with it. There's only one scene in a music club.
• The deadpan tone. You might wonder, after the first few minutes, how long Gordon can keep up his disarmingly unvain and lowkey schtick before it gets annoying. But guess what—it never does. That’s how good the script is, and how smart Gordon is as an actor and director. Don’t expect the so-deadpan-it-clouds-all-emotion-approach of mumblecore. This is a comedy, and you’ll be chuckling from the opening scene on. Very, very little here is self-consciously ironic.
• The “unknown” cast. In other modestly budgeted first features you'll often find a couple of standouts surrounded by, say, friends of the filmmaker or local stage actors making an ill-advised leap to the big screen. In short, the results are decidedly mixed. Not so here. Every performer—from the excellent Jonny Mars, Chris Doubek, and Liz Fisher down to those with one-line parts—are spot-on. This adds to the fun since we never know from which direction it will come.
• The minimalism. For much of the film the soundtrack consists of a finger playing a single piano note. Sometimes that note changes. Sometimes it’s even joined by other notes. And much of the action takes place in fairly nondescript settings. None of that matters. The emotions are big, and its the characters who are colorful.

Okay, that's enough of a rave: things are starting to get unseemly. And yes, there are a couple of places near the end where the energy flags, and the dramatic resolution itself struck me as a bit extreme, but I forgave The Happy Poet these sorts of things for the smile it kept on my face for pretty much its entire runtime... a smile that regularly erupted into helpless laughter

 

Dust Up: In (Some) Theaters and on DVD

The never-boring Dust Up, which recently enjoyed a one-week run at Brooklyn’s reRun Theater via Tugg (the crowd-sourced version of on-demand), is out on home video on November 13. My recommendation, if you’re a fan of B-movies and exploitation flicks, is simply this: catch it. It’s quite possibly my favorite new entry in those categories for 2012.

The DVD label that's releasing Dust Up, Breaking Glass Pictures, has for some time been championing the kind of offbeat, often ultra-indie productions that play festivals here and there, and then can all-too-easily vanish without a trace. The quality of those releases can be hit or miss, as you might imagine, but I never regret checking them out, and with writer-director Ward Roberts Breaking Glass has an undeniable talent to unleash upon the viewing public.

Deftly mixing dimestore noir and sun-fried Western to serve up a demented pastiche of action movies, Roberts tells a simple tale with familiar tropes but does it so engagingly that you’ll be reminded of why you gravitate to those elements in the first place. And this is not as easy as it sounds. Let’s consider the basic narrative material: a stoic, one-eyed recluse battles a drug-dealing bar owner in the desert, tries to protect the cutest baby in recent movie memory, and trades deadpan one-liners with his “Native American” buddy. As you may have already surmised, there’s certainly the possibility that the end product here could have been a dismal, ‘90s-style, sub-sub Tarantinoesque effort filled with cloying irony, forced banter, and self-conscious “shocks.” And while, yes, there’s certainly some self-awareness in the script—how can one produce an exploitation flick in this decade of this century with the same straight-ahead approach as forty years ago?—Roberts clearly takes his cinema aesthetics seriously. The result is a highly entertaining gore-spangled romp that recalls Russ Meyers as well as early Sam Raimi and early Coen Brothers but never seems beholden to them. In this effort, it should be noted, Roberts is ably assisted by the wonderful cinematography of Shannon Hourigan, who renders all the colors hyper-vibrant but never garish, and by Kirkpatrick Thomas’s consistently fun score.

I’ve seen the film referred to as “Amber Benson’s Dust Up,” which is natural given the name recognition of the former Buffy star, but this does little to showcase what is arguably its chief strength: the remarkably winning job done by its entire cast. There’s not a bad performance in sight, and even in the minor roles, where one senses that friends, crew members and non-professional actors may have joined in the high jinks, there’s never a false note. Benson and Aaron Gaffey turn in very solid work as the leads, which includes impressively handling the range in shifts in mood and tone that the story throws their way. But what really makes the film for me are the terrific jobs by Jeremiah W. Birkett, Devin Barry, and Travis Betz—all three of them hilarious and memorable. And since at least one of this trio seems to appear in nearly every scene, Dust Up kept a smile on my face for pretty much for the duration of its runtime.

Cross Over From Spectator to Supporter: An Urge to Assist Remember O Goddess

With the rising prominence of social media in our lives, the distance between audience and artistic creation has been closing.  No longer must consumers of entertainment await passively for the next intriguing internationally based film to hit our shores, nor do we wonder when the next superhero epic will be released. Information is for there for the taking for those too enthusiastic or curious to wait for it.  But, is it enough to simply gain information earlier? After all, the increased access of information becomes part of the strategy behind promoting large productions and getting there early does not necessarily mean changing the relationship between consumer and producer of these creative works.  But, is it possible to cross over? To have more of a hand in determining the direction of the creative landscape, what gets made and what doesn’t?  Even if it’s just a little?

This brings up a Korean film project, REMEMBER O GODDESS, in need of support.  I have been intrigued of late to see word of its progress moving along the social media channels I peruse.  It promises an exploratory look at time, memory, and love through a tale that unfolds with surreal elements.  It is a premise that reminds me of a thought provoking Korean movie from a few years back, M, about the struggles of inspiration and creativity.

What is striking about the project is the amount of talent involved, some from the beginning and others having thrown in their support and commitment to the production after being won over by its potential. First there is the director and driving force behind funding the movie, Philadelphia-based Yoon Jung Lee, who worked as script supervisor on acclaimed director Kim Ji-Woon’s wildly spirited fast-paced action epic, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD.  It is edited by Sae Kyoung Moon who was an editor for Bong Joon-ho’s MOTHER, and the lead is played by Kim Jung-tae, a name familiar to the world of more established mainstream Korean productions (BANGABANGA, SUNFLOWER, MISS RIPLEY).

The film’s first 25 minutes have been completed and has been presented as a short film at numerous festivals and film related events, among them, the New York International Film Festival of 2011.  It is an accomplished production that shows a man suffering from memory loss, who may even be displaced temporally, as he tries to reclaim his sense of self.  An interaction with a convenience store clerk shows a sign of recognition that may or may not be genuine.  Is she going through the motions of a good employee or does she hold the key to answering questions about this mysterious figure’s past?  It becomes a point of obsession for the main character, as it presents his sole opportunity to discover his own identity.

Here is a look the opening sequence of REMEMBER O GODDESS,which stands on its own as an impressive piece of mysterious narrative.



Remember O Goddess can be supported through its Kickstarter page here, where more information is available about the project.  With enough support, its crew will be able to carry the film project through to its intended feature length.  As of this writing, the fundraising campaign is in its final week.  That makes it a critical time for potential supporters to get involved, as a little support from a significant enough number of people will make the difference in it reaching its goal.

I urge you to take a look at the project, decide for yourself, and consider taking action.  You can have a hand in bringing about the realization of promising independent cinema.


links:
REMEMBER O GODDESS Kickstarter page:  
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/21269065/remember-o-goddess-film-noir-adventure-and-love?ref=live

REMEMBER O GODDESS Official Site:
http://rememberogoddess.squarespace.com/movie/